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DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022
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Booster
shots lag as
new virus
cases spike
Rate is highest among
people 65 and over
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Seaside is trying to create greater equality between softball and baseball.
Softball fi eld upgrades are
driven by federal agreement
First phase toward
achieving equality
See Booster shots, Page A6
Child care
center
closes after
virus case
By KATHERINE LACAZE
For The Astorian
S
EASIDE — The Seaside School
District launched the fi rst phase of
a project to upgrade softball facil-
ities in response to an agreement with
the U.S. Department of Education’s
Offi ce for Civil Rights.
T he school district has until the end
of June 2023 to build the facility and
provide greater equality between girls
and boys athletics.
It’s been an ongoing issue since
before she arrived in the school dis-
trict, Susan Penrod, the school super-
intendent, said. “We’re excited to
complete this project, with, of course,
our top priority being to provide a
wonderful softball complex for our
athletes, in addition to meeting our
deadlines with the Offi ce of Civil
Rights, ” she said.
The fi rst phase, which was approved
during the December school board
meeting, involves working with Brian
Hardebeck, a senior project manager
at DAY CPM, to coordinate and com-
plete the project. Hardebeck was part of
the team that worked on construction of
the new school campus, so the school
district is extending his contract for the
softball complex, Penrod said. ZCS
As the omicron variant of COVID-
19 leads to a rapid rise in virus cases, the
number of Clatsop County residents who
have received a booster dose against the
virus continues to lag far behind those
who have completed their initial vaccina-
tion series.
The county said nearly 11,000 resi-
dents have received a booster dose. The
booster rate is highest — 58% — among
people 65 and older , according to Oregon
Health Authority fi gures. In that popula-
tion, 85.8% have completed their initial
vaccinations.
The booster rate declines with each
younger age group.
People 50 to 64 years old have a 37%
booster rate, compared to 76.5% that
completed their initial series.
People 20 to 49 have a 19.3% booster
rate, compared to 65.4% that completed
their initial series.
And boosters among 18- and 19-year-
olds stand at 8.5%, compared to 52.7%
that completed their initial series.
Margo Lalich, the county’s interim
Sprouts Learning Center
hopes to reopen next week
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
R.J. Marx/The Astorian
A hole is underneath third base on the softball fi eld at Broadway Field.
Engineering & Architecture will assist
with the design.
T he engineering team is reviewing
a number of potential locations for the
upgraded facility and trying to deter-
mine which one will best meet the
requirements of the agreement, which
is meant to remedy disparities between
the practice and playing fi elds of the
female athletes compared to their male
counterparts.
The noticeable diff erences between
the baseball and softball diamonds at
Broadway Field create potential viola-
tions of Title IX, the federal law meant
to protect against discrimination in
education.
In 2012, Seaside parents Randy
Anderson and John Nicolazzi fi led a
lawsuit in federal court alleging the
school district failed to permit girls
from participating equally with boys.
Sprouts Learning Center, a child care
facility run by the city , has temporarily
closed after an employee tested positive
for the coronavirus.
The employee of the Astoria Parks
and Recreation Department works in the
aquatics and recreation and child care
divisions, offi cials said on Monday.
As a precautionary measure, Jonah
Dart-McLean, the city’s parks director,
said the learning center will close through
Friday while staff deep cleans and sani-
tizes the area. The facility, which operates
out of the Astoria Recreation Center, will
reopen on Monday.
See Field, Page A6
See Sprouts, Page A6
Warrenton planning director stepping away
Points to inability
to fi nd housing
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
WARRENTON
—
Scott
Hazelton is resigning from his posi-
tion as the city’s planning director
later this month.
His last day in his offi ce will be
Jan. 21, but he could work remotely
for a period of time to oversee the
completion of a few projects.
Hazelton, who took on the role in
September, pointed to the inability
to fi nd long-term housing as the pri-
mary reason for stepping down.
“It’s an unfortunate circum-
stance,” he said. “I knew moving out
here that housing was a big deal and
I tried to give it a hell of a run get-
ting a house for 4 1/2 months and just
couldn’t get it done.”
He said a month-to-month liv-
ing arrangement became unwork-
able due to leaky plumbing, and after
looking well outside Warrenton, two
other situations fell through because
of failed inspections. Hazelton is
now living in a motel until he leaves.
Hazelton said the challenges of
the job were compounded by the
lack of housing.
“There is a lot going on. I think
it is kind of like drinking from a
fi re hose and then at the end of the
day when you don’t go home to a
steady housing situation it makes
things seem more overwhelming in
the job,” he said. “It’s a high-volume
job, but it’s defi nitely a doable job,
and that’s not why I’m leaving.”
Hazelton, who also cited per-
sonal reasons and a lack of a support
system as factors in his departure,
will relocate to Kansas to be closer
to friends and family. He served
as the planning director in Powell
County, Montana, before coming to
Warrenton.
The planning director position has
seen plenty of faces in the last year.
Scott Hess vacated the role last May,
and Will Caplinger, a former plan-
ning manager for Clatsop County,
had been fi lling in remotely from
Taiwan until Hazelton was hired.
City Manager Linda Engbretson
said the city could potentially hold
off on searching for another planning
director and work with consultants
in the meantime. Engbretson, who
plans to retire once her role is fi lled,
has considered letting the new city
manager help fi ll the planning direc-
tor position.
Hazelton said he will be avail-
able to remotely assist a new plan-
ning director transition into the role
at any time.
Despite his short tenure, Hazelton
had high praise for city staff .
“Warrenton is a great place and I
have worked in a handful of places
and when I worked in the private
sector, I worked in a handful of juris-
dictions – I think Warrenton has the
best city staff I’ve worked with, by
far,” he said. “They’re a group of
people that works super hard and
knows their stuff .
Scott Hazelton
“That is probably my biggest
regret, that I don’t get to continue to
work with these people because it’s
not just that they do their jobs, it’s
the willingness to learn new things
and adopt new software and change
things up to make things better. That
is one of the main reasons I wanted
to move out here.”